


Hero Worship

by Xanthos_Samurai



Category: Batman (Movies - Nolan)
Genre: Gen, Implied Relationships, M/M, Unrequited
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-26
Updated: 2015-10-26
Packaged: 2018-04-28 07:01:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,103
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5082214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xanthos_Samurai/pseuds/Xanthos_Samurai
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A short scene exploring Harvey's thoughts about being a hero and what he really wants...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hero Worship

               It wasn’t something that Harvey could – or would – ever tell Rachel about.  How he would get up in the middle of the night and leave her in bed with her arms outstretched as though she were reaching for him even in her sleep.  He would walk out onto the balcony and stare out at the city.  Gotham.  A glittering cesspool.  A plagued paradise.  Gotham embodied all that was best about the world and worst about mankind.

               He rose his face up to the sky and saw the light from the signal, misty in the smoggy night.  Not even the light in this city could remain uncorrupted, he thought with resignation.  But seeing the signal gave him something desperately needed in these times: Hope. 

               Every time he looked up and saw that signal, he wondered what the Batman was doing.  Was he on the prowl, waiting for the opportune moment to stop a drug deal in progress?  Or was he flying through the air like his namesake – the winged night predator that the criminals considered him to be?   Was he licking blood off his teeth from where some punk had landed a lucky blow?  Or was he merely standing upon a high roof, looking down upon his city?

               His city.  Gotham _was_ his city.  Batman’s city.  And Harvey knew it better than most. 

               The White Knight of Gotham stood upon his balcony, fingers wrapped around the cold metal railing.  He was _with_ Batman during those nights.  He soared through the sky with him, could taste the blood on his teeth.  He wished desperately that he could be like the Batman – free to do whatever was necessary to stop injustice.  But no.  Instead he was stuck in a suit and tie that confined him more than any cage ever could have, trying desperately to fight the disease rotting Gotham from within while corruption tied his hands at every turn.  A lesser man would never have attempted it.  A normal man would have been satisfied with what he had thus far achieved.  But Harvey Dent was a great man and nothing less.  He was optimistic, but practical.  He knew that he could never be Gotham’s protector, so he strove to be her warden, bringing about peace and justice in the only way that he knew how.  He had achieved so much and yet there was so much more just waiting to be done.

               Harvey raised his eyes up to the overcast sky, leaning heavily against the cold railing.  More than anything, he wanted to be worthy of taking up the mantle of Gotham’s Knight.  Batman had pulled the city back onto her feet again – it was time for Gotham to move forward again, even at a limp.  It was a march that Harvey desperately wanted to lead.

               “It’s a thankless job, isn’t it?”  He spoke into the night.  “Nobody appreciates what you do until they’re reminded how much worse things could possibly get.”

               “We don’t do this for thanks.” 

               The District Attorney whirled.  He had not expected the night to answer back.

               Batman stood in the darkness behind him, beside the door leading to the room where Rachel still slept.  He was almost invisible in the dark – visible only from the movement of his cape in the breeze, the glint of stray light off a silver tool or in a kohl-painted eye. 

               “If we did, we would have given up a long time ago,” Batman continued. 

               For a few moments, Harvey had felt almost paralyzed, but now he forced himself to relax.  Only the hearts of criminals were stricken with fear by the sight of the Batman.  Harvey knew better than that.

               “You’re right,” he said.  “Anyone looking for thanks from this city would be crazier than the Joker.”

               “You and I are patriots, Harvey.  Sons of Gotham.”  Batman began to walk forward, closing the short distance between            the two men and stopped only a foot away.  Harvey looked up at the Batman, marveling at how the masked man was only a scant few inches taller than he was.  He had always seemed larger before.

               “It’s up to us to keep faith and save the city from itself.”

               Batman’s voice was little more than a snarl, a guttural, breathy growl intended to intimidate filth.  To Harvey it sounded weary.  The Batman had already had a long night.

               “No.”  Harvey shook his head.  “It’s up to men like you.  You’re the symbol Gotham needs right now.  You’re the one out there stopping criminals from taking over the streets.  My work is nothing compared to yours.”

               “Not true.  I’m a symbol, Harvey, but that’s all I can ever be.  Just a symbol.  I can only inspire – you’re the one who has the ability to lead the city and her people into a brighter future.  They will only rally around a man whose face they can see and trust.  This face.”  Batman gestured to his own mask.  “Will never lead Gotham.  Yours will.”

               Harvey never realized when it happened, but somehow his hand had moved and was now pressed against Batman’s armored torso.  Hesitantly, the other joined it and they slid upwards, over the plates of the suit.  His ink-stained fingers brushed across the bat emblem and he looked up into Batman’s eyes.

               “I want to help you more.  I want to continue what you’ve started.  If I had the means, I’d be out there every night with you.”

               “No, Harvey.”  Batman placed his hands on Harvey’s shoulders.  “You’re doing what I could never do.  I need you to stay right where you are.” 

               “Right where I am?”  Harvey asked quietly, looking up at the dark eyes shining behind the mask.

               “Yes.  Right where you are.”  Batman’s voice growled softly.

               A police siren shrieked through the night air and Harvey Dent jerked back to reality.  He was standing on Rachel’s balcony.  Alone.  And cold.  And no closer to saving Gotham than he had been when he walked out here in the first place. 

               Harvey turned to walk back inside.  It was wrong, he knew, to fantasize about such a thing.  Batman was the savior of Gotham, but he was also a criminal.  There wasn’t a chance in hell that Harvey would ever get the opportunity to properly thank the Batman, much less do any of the things that he thought about late at night, but not even Harvey Dent could resist temptation all the time.  He couldn’t help but think about kissing that growling mouth, fisting his hands in that cape and feeling those gloved hands in his hair.  Maybe one day when Gotham wasn’t in need of them… 


End file.
